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AEG exec to appear before city council committee

AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke gives a press conference in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. He's expected to answer questions about the company's impending sale on Monday. GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

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The Los Angeles City Council's Ad Hoc Stadium Committee is scheduled to meet Monday morning and is expected to hear from AEG president Tim Leiweke about how the company's pending sale might affect its proposal to build a downtown football stadium.

Last week, the Anschutz Entertainment Group announced it is on the market. The company, which owns Staples Center and L.A. Live, has proposed building a stadium in the same vicinity. The project has been in development with the city for years.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said last week that AEG owner Phillip Anschutz has assured him a buyer will be found who will accept the terms of the pending development agreement with the city.

The agreement calls for the city to issue more than $300 million in bonds to pay for demolishing and replacing the Convention Center's West Hall to make room for the stadium. The bonds would be repaid through revenues from a special tax district in the area and from AEG lease payments.

The development agreement has already been approved by the city's Planning Commission. The Ad Hoc Stadium Committee is expected to vote Monday and send its recommendation to the full City Council for a Sept. 28 vote.

Critics of the project are concerned about the loss of affordable housing in the area and say the city has failed to force AEG to adequately address traffic and pollution issues. The Play Fair at Farmers Field coalition has gone to court to slow down the approval process. AEG hoped to have a final agreement in place and all challenges settled by March, when NFL owners could consider relocating a franchise to Los Angeles.